Around Campus

A Look at Campus Life at Various Community Colleges

A new Rowan College at Burlington County softball recruit, Susan Glade, is used to candy canelined streets, seven feet of snow and temperatures that are 60 degrees below zero. Glade is from North Pole, Alaska – one of only about a dozen RCBC students to ever declare the last frontier state as their primary residence. “I want to experience the other side of the country,” said Glade. “I’m really looking forward to seeing an actual beach or two, and the maple trees.” Glade, who recently graduated from North Pole High School as Salutatorian and center fielder for her school’s softball team, found RCBC on the Next Collegiate Student Athlete website that connects middle and high school studentathletes with college coaches.

“I started emailing with Coach Costa on NCSA, and after talking to a few of the girls on the team I knew I wanted to be a part of the family,” she said. Glade’s impressive record, leadership skills and commitment to the sport stood out to RCBC Women’s Softball Head Coach John Costa. “Of course, the first thing I saw was her talent. Her batting average was hovering somewhere around .500, which is pretty remarkable,” said Costa. “However, stats only really tell half the story. Character is one of the main qualities I look for in a player.

Susan has a ton of it.” Glade, who describes herself as an avid outdoorsperson, plans to study biology and eventually earn a degree in wildlife biology and conservation so that she can protect Alaska’s plants and animals. She hopes to continue
to play softball for a four-year university after RCBC and then return
to Alaska. “I don’t think I’d be able to thrive without seeing the
northern lights or snow every now and then,” said Glade. “Also, we get
24/7 sun in the summer, and I like being able to hike or mow my lawn at 1
a.m.”

The Evelyn Burrow Museum at Wallace State Community College announces
its biennial sculptors’ exhibition “Rendezvous” on display through Aug.
31, 2018. The exhibit features the work of 12 acclaimed sculptors from
across the region. Included in the exhibit are Gokden Alpman Matthews,
Walter Black, Everett Cox, Casey Downing Jr., Glenn Dasher, Howard King,
Bruce Larsen, Dale Lewis, Ted Metz, Brad Morton, Nov Ontos and Duane
Paxson. The installations include a collection of small cast bronze
pieces (Morton), an elaborate wall hanging consisting of dozens of
pieces that together resemble a splatter pattern (Black), and an example
of a ship’s figurehead made of driftwood (Larsen). “I really enjoy
seeing what the artists will bring in each time we hold this
exhibition,” said Donny Wilson, director of The

Evelyn
Burrow Museum. “I’m always amazed at their creativity and talent, and I
hope visitors from all over the state will take time to enjoy the
show.” Alpman and King are new to the exhibition. Alpman Matthews, of
Huntsville, specializes in ceramic sculptures and mosaics that draw from
her Turkish heritage and from Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, which
is a city that is at the intersection of Europe and Asia, with Europe on
one side of the Bosphorus and Asia on the other. Istanbul also
represents an intersection of religions. The origin of the Eastern
Orthodox Christian Church and now majority Muslim, its complex history
is represented in the Hagia Sofia, and in much of Alpman Matthews’ work.

King,
of Cullman, is a wood artisan, and his work on displays includes wood
turned vases, platters, bowls and more. Black, Cox, Downing, Dasher,
Larsen, Lewis, Morto, Ontos and Paxson are all returning artists.